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Nov. 4, 1930.

N. D. LANSDOWN CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan.

NOV. 4,1930. N, D, LANSDOWN 1,780,756

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 25, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 4, 1930 UNITE stares NORMAN n. LANsnoWN, F "WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, AssIGNoR To sfrnivnnnn-` TRUMP BROS. If/IACHNE COMPANY, (3F-WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE oIRcLaR-KNITTING ivrAc'HINE Application fue@ January 25,1929. serial No. 334,920.

1flo yarn and sole yarn respectively, and means for operatingeach of them independently. The ordinary method of-operation comprises so oscillating these guides that each guideY feeds its yarn to the needles for approximately half a revolution .and 4vvithholds its yarn from engagement With the needles for' approximately half a revolutiom, thertwo guides being rendered active alternately. lt is customary, also, to render each guide 1n- 20 active just after the other guide is rendered active so that the two yarnsoverlap on each side of thefoot on two or three needles.

Vhen striped effects are produced in the leg and in the upper halfof-the foot, in combination With a plain sole, two or more guides, in addition to the sole yarn guide, one for each striping yarn, are employed. One of these guides, which carries the yarn which overlaps the sole yarn as above described, 30 may be considered a main yarn guide. This renders it necessary to provide means for oscillating each of these guides, ln knitting` the foot, the usual method necessitates special mechanism for moving and holding the striping yarn guides out ofaction during each half revolution of the machine While knitting the sole.

My invention has for its object to avoid the necessity of specially oscillating the Vstriping 40 yarn guides toprovide-for the knitting of a plain sole. The object of the invention is accomplished by rendering the striping yarn guides inoperative to feed yarn to theneedles during the knitting of the sole, Whether any 0r all of them are, intermittently or continuously, then in yarn-feeding position. This object is accomplished, preferably, by mechai nism Which, in each course of knitting, renders such striping yarn guides inoperative, lif they, or any of them, are in yarn feeding position, when, or just after, they sole yarn guide is moved into active or yarn-feeding position and which maintains them inoperative during the knitting of a half course andd Which renders them operative, if they, or any of them, are in arn-feedingposition, When, or just before, t ie sole yarn guideismoved into inactive or yarn-Withdrawalposition. This mode of operation dispenses With the Ynecessity of any special oscillation. of the striping yarn guides during the knitting ofthe entire foot. Further, during theknitting of the foot, the Vstriping yarn guides may be manipulated as if the back of the leg'ivere being knit, Without effecting any insertion of yarn in the sole. This permits of a substantial simplication of the pattern controlled mechanism which effects the timed oscillations of the variousstriping yarnV guides. ln the preferred embodiment of the invention, a single. cam oscillates the sole yarn guide and af'member, preferably a yarn-deilecting Wire, renders the other yarn guides inoperative to feed.A yarn even though they, or any of them, may be inoperative position, the deiiecting Wire being moved into operative position approximately When the vsole yarn guide is moved into operative position and being moved out of operative position approximately when the sole yarn guide is moved out of operative position; provision being made to effect the above described overlap ofmain yarn and sole yarn at opposite sides of the foot. The deilecting Wire, when moved into operative position, is interposed between the lneedles and theV yarn fingers which carry the striping yarns andrlifts into, and holds in, inactive position anyy yarn ,which would otherwise feed to the needles. The mechanism devised by me has also the advantage of insuring* that a precise vpredetermined number of Wales-of'overlapping yarns Will always-be knit into the fabric at opposite sides of the footvvhere the top joinsthe sole. y, Y A preferred embodiment of themechanism of the invention is shown inthe accompanying drawings, in vvhich:- v 1 Figui is a side elevation of part of a knitting machine embodying my invention.

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Fig. 2 is a front view of -anism of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the levers for actuatingthe sole yarn guide and yarn deflector.

Fig. 4 yis a perspective view v lQ f the v, inechanisrn ofY Fig.` 1, the parts beingfspaced apart in order to more clearly illustratethein.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the cain for ac- V:tuatingthe levers of Fig. 3. Y

L'Ei'g.; G pis a. diagram' of a stocking having certain parts thereof knit with a special thread. j

Vertically slidable inthe rotatable needle cylinder a are the needles 79 which travel through the usual lknitting wave and cooperpart of the niech- `ate with'sinkers o to vforin loops offabric.

V"Afsole yarn is fedtotlie needles byl'guide Zand striping yarns are l,carried-by guides ke, f andg. When lthe guidesare down ina-ctive position, their' .respective yarns pass over the latch ring hftothe needles.V

`Yarn guidese,^and gA are pivoted on a cornrnon'studand are inoveddownto activelposition and upto inactive position by any suitable mechanism, such, for example, as thatV disclosed in Patent No. 1,161,677 issued lloveinber 23, 1915,7to Harold IHQuSeman'. ,Retainers j, oney foreach of the fail yto yengage the needles.

fthree guides,` drep int-o notchesk and hold their 4respective guides v`either in `active orV 'inactive position. y

fThesole yarn guide dis pivoted ena stud 7e and has a spring m which tends Lto draw it down into active position. v. A llever n is `capable of lifting the sole guide d against vthe pull of its spring vto inactive position. Pivoted on thesaine stud 7c is fa member 0 carrying `a deiiecting wire p whichunderlies a'll yarns `feeding from yarn guides e, fand g yto the needles,and which, when elevated a spring g, causesy the wire p to. deflect any yarn which linay be feeding frein oneof-the guides to alposition where it will y This .ineinber 0 is rendered inactive to deflect yarns by the 'action of a lever r. Both levers n and rare pivoted on ,a V coiiirnon stud s and carry on their ylower ends rolle/rsfl and u, respectively. ,A singl'earcuate cani 'v carried 0n the; needle cylinder, Awhich revolves iin the Vdirection 'iiirollers u and t and thereby, through their 'dicated gby the arrow `on 5, operates respective leversja andn, actuates the desole guide d. I ,v

Let it be 'assu/ined Ithat thesojle is being "knit, Yat which ltime the sole ya'rngguide Z andthe deflecting V'finger p are in positions opposite Ito'thos'efshown in Figs. f1-and gl: the sole yarn sguide being down "in yarn feedv flectingywire p carried by-finernbzer Q and the ing position and VtheV finger pv being up in 'yarn'y deflecting position.` At' the :conclusion ef the .half Cerfs@ @i S011@ knitting the Effie 'Ward @ed Q-f: the; revplrus, cam .easeses knttuethesimular body ef the roller u of lever r and pushes it outward, thereby causinglever r to lower the deflecting wire y0, permitting the yarn, feeding from main guide e, which is in yarn feed-V ing position, to engage the needles.

`Cain o rthen engages-roller thoflever n, pushing it outwardVthereby causing sole yarn guide Z to be lifted, and disengagingthe sole yarn from the needles. During the `neXt half course of vknitting,-cain ai holds both sole yarn Aguide d and yarndeflecting knitting, i'nain yarn guideje beingdown :in

operative position, the rearjendoffthe'cam n passes from under rollers u and t, permitting springs g and m of member vaand guide Z to function, whereby the deflecting Wire p is elevated,disengaging frornthe needles the yarn from guide e, andv guided is moved down so that it will feed the lsole yalll to the needles. Itisvobvious that .any yarn or yarns which inayvbe feeding to the needles from any of guides e, 7f, and g will-'be under control of the deflecting ,wire p and that :the guides may remain stationary..

In lorder to` prevent defective "knitting along opposite Vsides off thefootgit gis {necessary thateach yarn-be engaged jby fthe Vneedles beforev theiotherfis withdrawn-` "'It is, therefore, 'important thatthe ,malin `and `'sole yarns should overlap on. two vortliree needles ateither side. The.rneclianisindescribed eife'ctst-his result .insofar as concerns the introduction of the main yarn 'to the needles vinadvance ofthe withdrawal of the sole yarn, because the ,forward lend of cain o engages rollers Vu and t successively and not simultaneously. The rear Vend of the v cani, however, Areleases 'roller -u in Eac lvanee 'of roller t vand therefore, Y without special Iprovisions toprevent it, `theinain yarn would be withdrawn 'in advance of the introduction of the sole yarn to the needles` thereby causing holes to appear in 'the fabrice., This operation is,V however, prevented 'by a pin w carried by lever 'n and which'bears against lever rand which prevents any` inoveinent of deflectng wire nienfiber @by its lspringito `uulthdraw, a Jrnain yarn until suchftirne asthe cam `passes by roller t. Therefore, although ,sole yarn 'guide ,is moved 'into action siinu'ltaneously .withfthewithdnawal `of inrfei `;0, thefirst two or three needles that tas past the sole yarn guide yafter its knient into Vaction have j previously @DS3-,eed the inain fyarn, so .that ,these Yneedles lui'it boni @risarcire fahre:

The Vconsjtru'ctionA described :has the *prolnonne-ed advantage that iii the operation of Y..

the are Cannelle-,d bya single t should be understood that While one use of my invention is to avoid the necessity of specially oscillating the striping yarn guide to provide for knitting the plain soley of a complete stocking, my invent-ion is not limited to this use, but is intended and adapted broadly for use in the knitting of any ciicular fabric in which one yarn knits for approximately Vone half a conrse and another yarn for tlie other half course. l have, therefore, not disclosed such mechanism as Would be necessary for holding the yarn guide cl up out of yarn feeding position and the deflecting Wire p down in inoperative position during the knitting of the leg, heel and toe portions of a stocking. Such mechanism can be supplied by one skilled in the art, Without the exercise of invention, if it is desired to apply the invention to such use.

ToV knit the circular fabricV descrised, no

mechanism other than that herein shown and described is necessary.

`What claim and desire to protect by Letters Patentis:

l. In a circular knitting machine equipped With a yarn guide movable into position to feed yarn to the needles and another yarn guide adapted also to feed yarn to the needles, the process of knitting only the second yarn into the fabric which comprises moving into and maintaining in yarn feeding position the second named yarn guide during the knitting of approximately half a course and then withdrawing it, anddnring the knitting of approximately the saine half course deflecting the yarn carried by the first named yarn guide While in yarn feeding position so that such yarn Will not feed to the needles.

2. In a circular knitting machine equipped With a yarn guide movable into position to feed yarn to the needles and another yarn guide adapted also to feed yarn to the needles, the process of knitting only the second yarn into the fabric Which comprises moving into and maintaining in yarn feeding position the second named yarn guide during tlie knitting of approximately half av course and then withdrawing it, and during the knitting of approximately the same half course deflecting the yarn carried by the first named yarn guide so that it Will feed yarn only to the first one or more needles and the last one or more needles which knit the said half course.

3. In a circular knitting machine, the coinbination with a rotatable needle cylinder and needles carried thereby, and two yarn guides, one of which is movable into and ont of yarn feeding position, of a deflector movable into and out of position to deflect yarn fed by the other yarn guide, when in yarn feeding position, from engagement with the needles, While the movable yarn guide is feeding yarn, and means to synchronously move the first yarn guide and the deflector With the needle cylinder, and cain-controlled connections adaptedto synchronously effect amovement of the second` named yarn` guide 4and the deflector. intooperative jposition at@ approximately the beginning of each alternatehalf course-of knitting and out of operative position lat approximately the end of such half course. .l V

5., In a circular knitting '-machine, them/f combination with a rotatable needle cylinvder and needles carried thereby, ,arya'rn guide, and another yarn guide'movable into and out of yarn feeding position, of a" finger Vextending in front of the first named yarn guide and movable into land out of :position to deflect fromengagement With the needles yarnV .fed from the lirst named yarnv guide `When in yarn :feedingl position, While the movable yarn guide is feeding yarn, and

'means to synchronously move theV second named yarn guide and said finger into operative position and/out ofioperative position.

6. 1n ar'circular yknitting machine,` the combination With a rotatable needle cylinder and needles.- carried thereby, a yarn guide, and another yarn :guide movable into and out of yarn feedingposition, ofa linger extending infront of, theflrstnamed yarn, guide and movable into.'and out of position to deflect from engagement-With the needles yarn fed fromctlie first named yarn guide when in yarn feeding position, an arcuate cam rotatable With thev needle cylinder, and connections controlled by said cam and adapted to synchronously effect a movement of the second named yarn guide and said fi'n- -Vger into operative position at approximately the beginning of each alternate half course of knitting and Withdrawal of the second named yarn guide and .said iinger'out of operative position at approximately theqend of each such lhalf course.

7. In a circular knitting ,machina the combination -With a rotatable needle cylin-' der and needles carried thereby, Va yarn" guide, and another yarn Vguide kmovable into and outof yarn feeding position, of a deflector movable intoand out of position to deflect yarn fed by the first named yarn guide, when in yarn feeding position, from engagement with the needles, means controlling the movement ofthe second named yarn guide into and out of yarn feeding position,

2ly l p 1,780,756

means controlling the movement of the deector into and out of operative position, and a common device adapted yto so actuate both means at substantially opposite points 5 in each circularoourse ofknitting' as to ren- I der the yarn fed by the second named yarn guide operative to knit on approximately a semi-circumference of needles yand render r the deflector operativel'to deflect yarn from 'fem all of said needles except the needles at yopv posite ends of said semi-circumference. 8. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable needlecylinder and needles carried jthereby,'ofa yarn y @als guide, and another yarn guide' movable into andout of yarn-feeding position., of a dev `fiector movable-into and out `of position to Vdeflect yarn fed, by the irstrnamed guide, When -in yarn feedingposition, Vfrom engage-- VW20 ment Withv the needles, a lever controlling the movement linto "and out of operativepositionof the second named yarn guide, aseoond lever controlling thernovement into and out of operative positionof the deector, and W25 an arcuate cam vrotatable with the needle 'cylinder andr adapted to operate the second and f fiirst levers successively to effect the successive movementY out ofV operativeV position of 'the 'defiec'tor and 'fthe secondV named 239 yarn guide.V f l Y Y i9. In a circular knitting ma'clhine,v the combination With arotatable needle "Cylinder and needles carried thereby, offa -yarn .Y guide, and anotheryarn guide movable into '315835 and `out of yarn TJfeeding position, of a dec `l'eotor movable into and out of'- position-'to 'deflect yarnfed by ithe first -named guide, when 'in'yar-n feeding position, rom engagement With 'the needles, a lever controlnfl-'40 lingvthe movement linto and out fof 'operativen i position=of the first named 'yarn guide, a second levercontrolling the movement intoand Fout Jof `operative position of thev deiector, rand'an arcuate cam rotatable with the needle V;45oylin'oler and adapted to operate the second and first levers successively to eii'ect 'the Vsuccessive movement out of operative position-of the deflector and ythe second named yarn guide and adaptedrto release said'sec- ".350 ond andfrs't levers successively, a-nd Ya stop controlled by the first lever and preventingY thevvithdrawal of the second lever to effect a movement in'to operative positionA of the delector until the release of the first lever I to effect a'movemen't ofthe'second named yarn guide'intoV operative position.k p

` l: In testimony of which invention, I .have hereunto set my hand, at'L-ondon, England, on this 17thy day of December, 1928. Y 6U l NORMAN D.,.LAl.\TSDOVVl\l.,'V 

